


By the sealine

by JanaRumpandRCJawnn (JanaRumpandRCJawwn)



Series: At home at sea [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pirate, First Meetings, Gen, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 02:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14392737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanaRumpandRCJawwn/pseuds/JanaRumpandRCJawnn
Summary: First meetings of their lifetimes.





	By the sealine

**Author's Note:**

> A prequel which had been written for months and we forgot to post, hope you like it!

Hajime didn’t usually sneak out. He was aware of how dangerous it could be, he knew that there were people who might do him harm. 

Still, it was hard to heed all those warnings when his father was away, when the sun was so bright on the sky, when the ocean looked so inviting. He would just be gone for a couple hours, no one had to know. It wasn’t like he had anybody constantly checking on him, he had already finished his tutoring lessons for the day, so everyone expected him to stay on his room or at most go swim in the royal pools. 

The process of getting out of the castle wasn’t that hard. He had a change of clothes stashed in one of the storage rooms, something that made him look like an errand boy, and most guards had never seen Hajime up close, so they would only assume it was naught but another servant. 

The streets of the city were always packed, people buying and selling things, playing, talking, living. The first time he had gone outside without an armed escort, Hajime had spent literal hours trying to make sense of Syracuse. He still wasn’t an expert on it, but he could at least find his way to the docks by now, the next best thing when the beach wasn't so close. 

The place was weirdly deserted when he arrived though. He could only see one boy, sitting on the edge of one of the decks, drenched, probably having just come up from the water. He looked like he was around Hajime’s age, but so skinny it was unnerving. Still, when he turned to the prince and smiled Hajime couldn’t help but smile back.

The boy jumped to his feet and walked over. “What are you doing here? I thought everyone was at that dumb school thing.”

It was weird how free and casual he was. They had never seen each other and still the boy acted like they were friends already. Hajime just shrugged, because he didn’t know what said "school thing" was anyway. That seemed to make the other boy really happy somehow, so he could only guess that he did the right thing. 

“Well, it’s good that I’m not the only one not going to that stupid stuff. Anyway, I’m Tooru. What’s your name?”

He didn’t even consider the option of lying. He just muttered Hajime to the kid, who proceeded to shrug and say something about how people kept giving all kids the same names, and such a cover came as a surprise and quite a relief. He wasn’t very good at talking to people or making friends, didn't have many opportunities to work on that either. Most people he met were nobles, and most nobles were really boring, and very annoying in their sense of superiority. He wanted to do silly things every once in awhile, and jumping into the water right now seemed like a good place to start. 

Tooru followed him, laughing while cannonballing to his right. “Dude, you're crazy!” The other boy exclaimed when they both emerged, spluttering still. 

“It’s too hot to sit around and talk.”

Tooru shrugged, before his grin went a bit devilish. “Wanna play then? Bet you can’t catch me, I’m the best swimmer on the docks.” 

Hajime couldn’t pretend he didn’t love a challenge, couldn’t pretend he didn’t want to see how good the other boy actually was. So he just grinned back. 

“You're on.” 

It was perhaps the best afternoon of his life up to that point. Tooru was indeed fast and aggressively competitive, but Hajime liked it. He liked having someone who wasn’t going all ‘Your Majesty’ around him, someone who made him laugh. 

As the sun too soon started to set he knew he had to go back, but he didn’t want to go away and never see this boy again. And judging by the way Tooru was flitting his eyes around, on edge as they left the docks behind and went back into the city, he didn’t want Hajime to disappear either.

“So...” In the end it was Hajime that decided to broach the subject. “You're always at the docks?”

Tooru didn't look at his face as they walked up the street, but replied anyway. “Only when I'm not working,”

“You work?” It sounded like a lie, Tooru couldn’t be older than Hajime, and kids didn’t work.

“Sort of. I do stuff to make money.”

“That’s pretty vague.” Hajime mumbled under his breath, but Tooru didn’t fall for the bait to talk more about himself. 

They were almost at the main square now, where Hajime would have to lose the other boy and make his way to the palace. 

“When do you have a day off again?” Hajime ended up asking, which seemed like the best way to get a hold of the other boy.

Tooru stared at him a bit confused, before replying with a glint of hope on his voice. “In a couple days. You wanna play again?”

“Yeah. You are a loudmouth, and not the best swimmer on the docks, but you're fun.”

He felt a hand slapping his shoulder as Tooru shot back. “It was beginner’s luck! I’ll beat you next time.”

“Sure thing. Or perhaps I’ll just kick your ass like I did today, how many times? Oh yes, four.” Hajime wasn’t usually this competitive, but it felt so good to tease the other. He was proud of himself for having won, and he was so glad that Tooru hadn’t given up on it. 

They got to the main square then, much less crowded at night but still sporting some movement. Tooru looked around seeming like he wanted to be somewhere else, Hajime himself probably looked much the same, hoping he could get to the palace before any guards were sent after him and he got his new friend in trouble.

“Next time you'll see, Hajime.” Tooru stated, before heading for the closest dark corner. “Two days, right?”

Hajime nodded, a dumb smile on his lips as the other boy walked away. He shouldn’t be this happy, his tutors would make him scrub himself clean and would give him an earful if they found out what he was doing. Still, it was more than worth it if it meant he got to keep seeing Tooru, if it meant he would keep feeling this happy. 

-

The Syracuse prince was not what Issei had been expecting. 

He'd been briefed by his parents on the Prince’s fame. He who walked around with a ruffian, preferred swordsmanship and navigating to state affairs. He didn’t have any proper friends or prospective engagements. Overall, the kind of person who didn’t much match the higher circles. Issei had been sure Hajime would have been pushed aside very quickly if he wasn’t the King’s only child.

He wasn’t expecting the young man in front of him. Indeed, muscled and tanned in a way unfitting of his station, but also so very polite, his expression surprisingly soft. 

They had been introduced in a formal dinner, surrounded by expectation, and that was how he ended up sitting beside the prince on one of the many lavish cushions around. They spent a while in silence, which was somewhat disconcerting. Issei wanted to strike up a conversation, but he had no idea which subject would be appropriate. 

So it was a major surprise when Hajime himself broke the silence. 

“You are the youngest ambassador they've ever sent here.”

Issei felt the tinge of embarrassment. He couldn’t properly be called an ambassador, he was too young and, honestly, failure was more or less expected. In essence, he had been sent more as a punishment for being _him_ than anything else, but he couldn’t tell Hajime that. He couldn’t reveal himself just yet, no matter how much he just wanted someone to open up to, no matter how alone he felt at the moment. Anyone in their right mind would use such damning info to manipulate him, even his parents had done so.

“Well, if your majesty requests it I’m sure they can send some old wise man to be an ambassador in my place.” Teasing was always easier than honesty, and deflected the attention easily enough. Besides, Hajime didn’t seem like most royals, who would get offended by the slightest sarcasm.

Hajime laughed and Issei took a moment to notice how good it sounded. “You have some bite in you. It’s refreshing.” 

Issei sighed and worked hard not to roll his eyes, maintaining at least some level of proper respect. The prince just smiled wider and put a hand to his shoulder. 

“Do you want to see the palace?”

Issei smiled politely and nodded. He wasn’t exactly excited for a tour of the grounds, seeing as he'd most probably have the rest of his life to get bored of it. There would be time to figure it’s nooks and crannies, what he really wanted to see instead was the town beyond, to go to the biggest port in the Twelve Cities and watch all the amazing ships that made a stop there. 

The tour through the palace was informative enough, though. Hajime obviously knew it all like the back of his hand, doling enough anecdotes to make it fun somehow. The gardens were incredibly beautiful, but the pools of crystalline water were probably the closest he had to a favorite, and it showed. 

“We could go to the docks too, if you'd like." 

“I’m sure you have better things to do, your Highness.” Issei couldn’t risk revealing too much, even if he was aching for a sight of the ocean - apparently spending a whole two weeks on it wasn’t enough. 

Hajime’s reply was just rolling his eyes and gesturing towards the nearest passage. 

“If I had better things to do, which I don’t, I would still prefer going to the docks with you. No one else on this castle enjoys going there, so having someone here to justify my outings to my father is very convenient.”

Issei tried not to smile back, because this was, even if unintentionally, a pretty sweet gesture. All in all, staying here perhaps wouldn’t be that bad. 

-

Life at sea was much less glamorous than Tooru’s childhood tales had promised him, and much more lonely. 

This crew didn’t see him as someone they should get to know, he was just the new guy stuck with cleaning floors and peeling potatoes. Or, in this case, the unlucky asshole to stay on lookout duty while everyone else went to enjoy the town. It was their only visit to dry land for at least another three weeks, and he couldn’t get away from the ship. If anything was lost, it would be his fault, and all the hard work he had put himself through would be in vain. 

He was sitting on the rail, grumbling and watching as people went by, when he first spotted her. 

At first it was his lookout senses that tingled. That lone figure, sticking out from the rest of the populace and staring intently at all the ships, which usually wasn’t something good. She was dressed far too well for the dirty looks people were giving her, and she couldn’t be much older than him, looked too young for the skepticism in her eyes. It reminded Tooru a bit of himself. 

He watched her, not intending to go down there and be a bother, until a group of drunks approached. Their words were rude, their posture worse, and no one around seemed about to intervene.

The girl was quite clearly on edge, and by her positioning she was ready for a fight. Which was stupid because that dress surely limited her movements, and she was outnumbered five to one anyway. Those were some fucking unfair odds, and he was too much of a fool sit idly by and just look the other way. Using one of the ropes dangling on the side of the ship he made it down to the docks in an instant, taking a few seconds to go stand by the girl and hand her a dagger. 

“Thought you could use something sharper to deal with those idiots here.”

She arched an eyebrow, but took the dagger that was offered without much hesitation. The drunks were already stepping back, clearly not having expecting any interference. Always counting that no one would help, Tooru knew the kind. 

When she spoke at last, the girl had a grin on her lips and her dagger pointed at one of the men. “You were saying something about me?”

The group groaned and stepped back, one in particular having the guts to spit near the girl’s feet while at it, mumbling _freak_ under his breath. As they rushed away Tooru put his own dagger down, only the find hers pointed at him. 

“I’m not going to bed with you.” She stated, eyebrow raised defiantly. Tooru could see some cracks, the way her lips were tight and how her eyes were a bit watery, but she had a decent blank face despite the situation. Still, he had no doubt she would kill him if he tried to make a move. 

“I didn’t expect you to, lady. Just thought it was an unfair fight.”

She didn’t buy it at first, but eventually put the dagger down. He sighed and tried to be nice, but not too much, it would probably only make her annoyed. “I’m Tooru. I’m with the crew of the boat you were checking out. Thought you might wanna see it inside.” She gave him a nasty distrustful look, so he added. “I’m not after sex. By the skies, is that all people think about here?”

She chuckled bitterly before replying. “With people like me, usually yes. I’ll see your boat, Tooru, but don’t mind if I keep the dagger.”

Tooru knew he would get an earful from his captain and everyone else for bringing a girl over and letting her keep one of their weapons, but he shrugged internally. He could dodge it if he was smart enough, and he was very intelligent. Besides, if it was making her more comfortable it was the right thing to do.  
Specially when her eyes shined at the ship itself and she turned to him, genuine smile and all.

“You might not be all that bad, Tooru.”

-

When Tooru told Hana about the rich man that had sneaked into their ship, she had been honestly confused. They didn’t need to become heroes, it was the most incredibly dumb idea anyone had ever had. Tartarus would get them killed, and what for? For a stupid prince that had chosen to risk his life. 

She had teasingly asked Tooru if Issei was in love with the Prince, since it was the only reasonable explanation. However, by the way her lover reacted - getting even more fussy and saying loudly that he did not care - she was sure the two of them were lovers. Perhaps if Makki was a more romantic or innocent person, that gesture would have warmed her heart. 

Usually, she would have complained more when Tooru asked her to be the one instructing their new crew member. She really didn’t like rich spoiled men, and babysitting one of them seemed like a terrible idea. Still she found herself wandering around their ship. The stupid rich boy had been assigned to clean up the deck, but she found him sitting and eating with Kindaichi. The poor kid was always so meek, too much so even. Hanamaki could still remember how easy it was for Tooru to get the then young marine into their pirate life. So she sneaked closer and teased from over the newbie’s shoulders.

“Kindaichi, I hope you are not spilling all our secrets for the enemy.” 

The poor boy looked like she had caught him jacking off, then shook his head and hurried away from the scene. She smirked to herself, she did adore teasing him. 

“Am I not allowed to interact with your crew?” Hanamaki wasn’t paying attention to the rich boy, so she was mostly caught off guard by his sarcasm, which she had to admit must show that he had some sort of spine. 

And so she decided to indulge a bit, there was a small part of her that just loved the idea of playing with those assholes in their own game, so Hanamaki went with a quote that she was sure would go over his head. “Is not that. I just don’t know you, boy.”

Hearing the exact reply as it had been on the book, though, it made her feel defenseless. It made Hanamaki think of being ten and sitting in her parent’s library, back when she thought things would be perfect forever, that she could be the hero of her own life and still be loved by them. Hana smiled, even though she knew she shouldn’t, but she had been missing someone to talk about old fantasy books - Tooru despised them, always said he didn’t quite get the appeal. 

So she sat next to him, a smile on her lips and asked if he had read the book, to which he sheepishly responded yes. 

It felt weirdly comforting to stare at the sea next to him then. Hanamaki knew it in the back of her mind that reading the same book as she had didn’t automatically make him a good person, but for once she pretended it didn’t matter. That she didn’t have to worry that everyone was trying to screw them over. 

And well, he had a pretty nice face, she had to give him that.

**Author's Note:**

> WB notes! Because it's kinda traditional now
> 
> Tooru at first is a street kid, getting by with little jobs and petty crime, embarks in a ship and doesn't look back when his friend the prince seems to have grown out of their friendship (foolish boy).
> 
> Iwa is a frustrated prince, never quite fitting in in a ever still world of rules and appearances.
> 
> Issei is a queer kid to whose family that definitely wasn't a valid option. Palace life doesn't suit him very well either.
> 
> And finally Hana, a most badass lady. Also too queer for this world of fools, but fortunately they all find family in bits and pieces along the way.


End file.
